Movies

Govt drawing up blueprint for centenary celebrations of Indian cinema

04 Mar, 2011 - 11:15 AM IST | | 234 Reads

NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has asked stakeholders to send in suggestions for celebrating the centenary of Indian cinema in 2013.

The Ministry has put in a note on its website in this connection. The note says that a preliminary meeting was held under the chairmanship of secretary Raghu Menon for drawing up a blueprint for the celebrations.

Although Indians began making films soon after the Lumiere Brothers exhibited their kinetograph in July 1898 in Mumbai, these were only recording of actual events taking place.

It was only in 1913 that D G Phalke made the country’s first indigenous feature film, ‘Raja Harishchandra’, in which he enacted several roles – particularly since it was considered taboo for women to act. He is today known as Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema. His struggle to make the film has been recorded in the Marathi film ‘Harishchandrachi Factory’ by Paresh Mokashi.

It is understood that the Museum of the Moving Image coming up in the premises of Films Division in Mumbai and the National Centre for Animation and Gaming will be two key announcements for the centenary celebrations.